Chapter 25: Hidden Template
By the time Zhou Ning returned to the dorm, it was already seven o'clock. Unexpectedly, the legendary roommate John—rarely seen and often absent—was actually back!
John was sitting on the edge of his bed, smoking with a melancholy look on his face. His dog, Bobby, was excitedly pouncing on the bed, desperately licking his face.
Zhou Ning silently watched this warm and tender moment between father and son, and in the end couldn't bring himself to tell John:
His "son" had just eaten poop.
When Zhou Ning came in, John snuffed out his cigarette with a gloomy expression. "What do I do, Wayne? My dad's probably going to kill me."
Zhou Ning remembered that John's family was extremely wealthy. His father was one of the top merchants in Darkland City, and the entire red-light district near the old town was basically his property.
His predecessor had wanted to ask John to treat them to a "lifestyle experience" several times, but never had the nerve to bring it up.
Zhou Ning: ?
He put the bread on the table, looking a bit curious.
"That's not likely. You're his only son. I doubt he'd go as far as disowning you."
"…You didn't commit a crime, did you?"
John shook his head dejectedly. "If it were just a crime, that'd be easy. As long as it's not something major, my dad could bail me out no matter what."
Then he let out a long sigh. "Remember that store I invested in? It's about to go bankrupt. Total loss."
Zhou Ning instantly lost interest. He'd been hoping for something juicier—like a scandal involving brothers at odds and a seductive sister-in-law or something.
"Just a failed investment? That's not much for your family, is it?"
John: "My dad gave me 10,000 Vecktas…"
Zhou Ning: …
He recalled that John had started a business in July—investing in a boutique alchemy shop near campus. By the end of the month, he'd decided it wasn't making money and tore it down to rebuild it as a boutique weapon store.
As John had said himself: If you're gonna do it, do it high-end.
And now it was September 2nd.
…If he were John's dad, he probably would beat the hell out of him too.
"You're doomed. Just accept your fate. When they hold your funeral, remember to visit me in a dream."
Once again, Zhou Ning felt the sharp contrast in life experience. He silently took his clothes and went to the bathroom, completely unwilling to interact with this kind of spoiled rich kid.
When he came out from his shower, John was already asleep. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
It was a staff member collecting the coins from the gas meter in each dorm. When they saw the total gas usage, they looked at Zhou Ning like he was a fool—a rich fool from a landlord's family.
He hadn't thought much of it, but when he saw the numbers, he was stunned. In just three days, his gas usage had already exceeded four Roshens.
So broke! Zhou Ning sighed.
Outside the window, the drizzle had turned into a heavy downpour. Zhou Ning shut the window, jumped onto his bed, and sat cross-legged. His immediate need for alchemy had been met, and now that he had a bit of free time, it was the perfect moment to organize his abilities.
Zhou Ning opened his panel. After several days of accumulation, he now had over 23,000 experience points to spend—some earned through alchemy practice, others through reading.
Currently, he had seven regular skills available for fusion:
English Proficiency (Expert)
Pickpocketing (Intermediate)
Marksmanship Proficiency (Advanced)
Flirting (Expert)
Ripple Breathing Technique (Beginner)
Mozambique Drill (Beginner)
C.A.R. System (Intermediate)
To upgrade the Ripple Breathing Technique from Beginner to Intermediate required 10 Spirit. Zhou Ning only had 9, but fortunately had saved up one free attribute point. He added it to Spirit, reaching the standard threshold of 10.
With his stats now meeting the requirement, Zhou Ning didn't hesitate to upgrade Ripple Breathing to Intermediate.
[Ripple Breathing (Intermediate): A highly effective breathing technique. Adds +4 Strength and +4 Agility.]
The Strength and Agility bonuses each increased by one, and the description upgraded from "effective" to "highly effective"—not a huge improvement.
Next, Zhou Ning selected Marksmanship Proficiency (Advanced) and Ripple Breathing (Intermediate) for skill fusion.
[Do you want to fuse Marksmanship Proficiency (Advanced) with Ripple Breathing (Intermediate)? This fusion will cost 8,000 experience. Success Rate: 70%]
Lower than game-based fusion success rates, likely because Ripple Breathing wasn't a native game skill.
Zhou Ning clicked "Yes" without hesitation. The experience for both skills was wiped, and Ripple Breathing reverted to Beginner.
[Fusion successful. You have obtained the skill: Ripple Shot.]
[Ripple Shot (Beginner): A shooting technique that channels Ripple energy into bullets. Deals massive damage to dark creatures. When using this skill, Strength and Agility checks receive a +3 bonus.]
Zhou Ning's eyes lit up. He'd thought up several theoretical combos between Ripple Breathing and Marksmanship Proficiency, but Ripple Shot was by far the ideal result. It didn't retain the Advanced-level precision of Marksmanship Proficiency, but it did embed Ripple energy into bullets and provided an extra +3 to Strength and Agility checks, maximizing its lethality.
He had about 8,000 experience left. Glancing over his skill list again, he upgraded Mozambique Drill from Beginner to Intermediate.
[Mozambique Drill (Intermediate): A close-quarters gunfighting technique. Fires two quick shots to the body followed by a headshot. Enhanced lethality compared to Beginner level.]
[Do you want to fuse Mozambique Drill (Intermediate) with C.A.R. System (Intermediate)? This fusion will cost 8,000 experience. Success Rate: 48%]
[Fusion successful. You have obtained the skill: Rapid Pursuit.]
[Rapid Pursuit (Beginner): A deadly gunfighting style combining long and short-range techniques. Grants a special combat state and passively boosts combat ability.]
"It actually succeeded?"
Even Zhou Ning himself was surprised by his luck this time. Judging from the vague skill description, though, it was hard to tell how powerful it really was—similar to his other specialty learned from "John Wick": Deadly Rhythm. Both were pretty abstract.
With the skills upgraded, Zhou Ning read for a while under the cover of night. His reading progress reached 547/1000. He checked the time—just past eleven.
Then he looked at his balance: 9 traversal coins left. After holding back for two whole days, Zhou Ning finally gave in. He opened the simulator and selected Traverse.
[Preparing to traverse… -5 traversal coins deducted.]
[Please choose a traversal mode…]
[1. Direct Traverse]
[2. Use Parallel World Template to Traverse]
As usual, he checked which new templates had refreshed in option two!
The previous three—Yakuza Fiend, Mad Clown, and Supreme Gambling God—had already been cycled out. Three new ones had appeared.
The first was Zhou Ning wearing glasses and looking refined. His personality was "shrewd," and his talent was "Design Genius" (blue). Skills: Architecture Design (Expert), Accounting (Intermediate).
Title: Genius Architect Zhou Ning. Cost: 3 traversal coins.
The second showed him in a black mage robe, holding three large fireballs. Personality: "Irascible." Talents: Fire Magic Genius (Purple), Magic Affinity (Purple), Magic Focus (Purple). Skill: Omniscient Fire Magic (Divine).
Title: City-Burning Flame – Zhou Ning. Cost: 250 traversal coins. Astronomical!
But when he saw the third, Zhou Ning couldn't help but exclaim. On the screen was a version of himself in a black suit, half-hidden in shadows, with a weary gaze. Personality: Wise and Calm. Talents: Scientific Genius (Purple), Athletic Prodigy (Blue), Vampire Physique (Purple), Daywalker (Purple), Rapid Regeneration (Purple). Skills: Ripple Breathing (Expert), Drawing (Expert), Writing (Master), Marksmanship Proficiency (Expert)… and a massive list of other skills.
Title: Legendary Vampire – Zhou Ning. Cost: 0 coins.
Zhou Ning was stunned for a while before recalling that after clearing Mist-Lost London, he'd received a notification: "Legendary Vampire Zhou Ning" had become a hidden template, unlockable with extremely good luck.
Was today his lucky day?
There was no debate—Zhou Ning immediately selected option 1 and chose Legendary Vampire Zhou Ning for traversal.
[Match successful. In this parallel world, you are the greatest scientist of the 20th century, the greatest writer, a physicist, a two-time Nobel laureate, and a key figure who helped the Allies win WWII. You are a legend, a living myth—and also a vampire capable of walking in sunlight. The Stone Mask gave you your vampiric powers, while its fusion with the Aja Red Stone allowed you to survive under the sun. What kind of changes will you bring to this world? Let's wait and see.]
[Current world exploration progress: 56.8%. When it reaches 66.7%, the next map will be unlocked.]
[If you die in the simulation, the game ends.]
[Time machine in progress… 1%… 33%… 65%… 95%… Whoosh… Traversal complete.]
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